Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government contains a range of commitments to young people, their schools and their communities. The collapse of Carillion has had a negative effect on these commitments on two fronts. First, schools building projects awarded to the Carillion consortium face indefinite delay, despite some work being near completion. These are not the only projects stalled as a result of the company's collapse. Projects awarded to Sammon are also in jeopardy. In my constituency our local GAA club, Naomh Fionnbarra, was directly affected with subcontractors walking off site in January due to non-payment. There is less than two weeks' work left to complete with just a pitch to be laid - a pitch which is sitting in the subcontractor's warehouse - and minor fencing and lighting work to be completed. It was hoped that with Sammon, the main contractor, now in examinership a speedy resolution could be found. However, I learned yesterday that the Minister for Education and Skills has, in effect, fired Sammon and now intends to retender for this minor work, delaying its completion for at least another four months. That work would take literally days to complete. I ask the Taoiseach if the Minister for Education and Skills can reconsider this decision to retender and instead find a more reasonable, more proportionate and timelier solution.

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